Communication protocol bridge and controller method and system

ABSTRACT

A technique is provided for communicating between networks and devices operating in accordance with different network protocols, and for performing logical operations on some or all of the data received and transmitted in accordance with either protocol. Where logic is enabled in a bridge/PLC, and where data is bound or affected by the logic, logical operations may be performed and data stored in a memory module or transmitted to one or another of the networks or devices in accordance with either protocol. Where data is not bound or logic is not enabled, the device may serve as a simple protocol bridge receiving input in one or both protocols, and producing output in accordance with either protocol.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of networkinterface devices, and more particularly to a communication bridge forinterconnecting networks operating on different protocols, and able toperform logical functions on the data where desired.

Many different types of networks and network protocols have beendeveloped and are presently in use. In industrial settings, for example,protocols are used to define the format for messages exchanged betweendevices, and to regulate traffic flow of the data. The protocol maydefine such parameters as the bits available for message data, themeaning of message data within the bits, as well as bits used forheaders, trailing bits, and so forth. Specialized circuitry in each ofthe devices serves to encode and decode the data in accordance with theestablished protocol. In industrial and other environments, suchprotocols include control area network (CAN) protocols, device network(DeviceNet or DNet) protocols, Ethernet protocols, Internet protocols,and other specialized protocols, such as Profibus, Modbus, and so forth.

Depending upon the design of the particular device or component to beinterfaced with a network, appropriate circuitry and programming may notalways be present for communicating in accordance with the networkprotocol. In many instances, networks are divided into regions orsegments, with different protocols being used within the differentsegments. For example, within a machine components may be designed tooperate over one protocol, while the network to which the machine isconnected operates in accordance with a different protocol. Toaccommodate such differences in hardware and programming, protocol orcommunication bridges have been developed that can store and translatedata between the protocols. Such bridges are extremely useful inadapting standard components and machines to a variety of networkprotocols, allowing interfacing of many different components andmachines or many different networks as desired.

While protocols bridges provide useful interfacing, heretofore knownbridges of this type have not performed logical functions. That is, thebridges serve to facilitate the exchange of data between protocols, butare not equipped with logic circuitry that permits enhanced operation.

There is a need for improved bridging circuits that can enable certainlogical operations. Such needs, however, have not been filled in the artor even recognized as such. Moreover, current designs for logiccircuitry typically include logical programming circuitry in specializedcontrol or monitoring systems, in specific components, and elsewhere.Communication bridging circuitry is considered completely separate andonly added where necessary to existing logical circuits, always inseparate devices with limited functionality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides a communication bridge designed torespond to such needs. The circuitry may be designed to operate betweenany suitable protocols, and may be designed to share memory such thatdata formatted in either protocol can be passed along between networksand devices in accordance with both protocols. Where desired, however,certain logical operators can be present and operate on the data fromone or both protocols. The logical operators might include any logicalfunctions performed within the communication bridge itself. Outputs canbe made to devices, to networks, or to local outputs, such as actuatorsor indicators. The ability to pass through data bridging to protocolsand to operate logically upon the data where desired greatly facilitatesthe bridging functions of the circuitry, while permitting afunctionality heretofore unattainable in either a bridging device or acontrol or monitoring device alone.

DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood when the following detaileddescription is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in whichlike characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical representation of a portion of a networkwherein circuitry and devices communicate in two different protocols bymeans of a communication bridge in accordance with aspects of thepresent technique;

FIG. 2 illustrates certain functional circuitry of the communicationbridge of the type illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 represents, in somewhat greater detail, the functional componentsof the communication bridge illustrated in FIG. 2, and illustrating insomewhat greater detail exemplary operations that may be performed bythe circuitry;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical representation of a pier-to-pierimplementation of communication bridges in accordance with aspects ofthe present technique;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating operations performed on data passedthrough or operated upon by the communication bridge described herein;and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary manner in which logicaloperations are performed on data received by the communication bridgedescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the drawings, and referring first to FIG. 1, a controland monitoring system is illustrated diagrammatically and representedgenerally by reference numeral 10. System 10 may be found in anyindustrial, commercial, or other environment and is adapted forproviding communication between network devices over a network 12. In anindustrial context, for example, the network 12 may include a series ofdata conductors, as well as power conductors for providing power tonetwork devices. Alternatively, the data may be provided over separatedata conductors, or may be superimposed over power in certain systems.In general, some type of remote control/monitoring circuitry 14 may beincluded for regulating operations of various loads, processes, andmachinery, circuitry, and so forth. Circuitry 14, in an industrialcontext, may be included in a central control room or station, or atmultiple locations within a plant. In the illustrated embodiment, system10 further includes a pair of sub-networks 16 and 18.

Sub-network 16 is so termed because it provides and environment somewhatseparate from the network 12, but linked to the network 12 via acommunication protocol bridge 20. The communication protocol bridge 20is linked to a process 22, which may in practice include many differentcomponents, machinery, actuators, sensors, and so forth. A network 24 isillustrated as liking the communication protocol bridge 20 and theprocess 22.

In general, the communication protocol bridge 20 permits data to beexchanged in different protocols between the network 12 and the network24. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, on the side of thecommunication protocol bridge 20 linked to network 12, a first protocolwill be employed for data communications, while on an opposite side ofthe communication protocol bridge 20, that of network 24, a differentprotocol may be employed. The protocol bridge permits the interlinkingof devices and processes, then, utilizing one protocol with networks andother processes and devices utilizing a different protocol. By way ofexample only, protocols for which such bridging may be provided includeprotocols known as DSI (drive serial interface), DeviceNet (DNet),Scanport, Ethernet, Profibus, Modbus, and various proprietary protocols.In many applications, for example, devices and components of the processare specifically adapted for communicating in accordance with oneprotocol, while the network 12 is adapted for communication inaccordance with a different protocol. In many applications, the protocolutilized on network 12 will be an open industrial network protocol, suchas DNet.

As discussed in greater detail below, data required for decision making,control, actuation, and other operations performed in process 22 areprovided from the network 12 through the communication protocol bridge20. The communication protocol bridge may also communicate directly withlocal input and output components as indicated at reference numeral 26.The local I/O 26 may also provide data to and receive data from thecomponents of process 22. As also discussed in greater detail below, inaddition to passing data between the protocols in its “bridging”functions, the communication protocol bridge 20 serves to performcertain programmable logic operations on all or a portion of the data.Thus, the bridging circuitry is programmable so as to produce outputswhich are not solely based upon the received data, but may be processedby the logical operations programmed into the communication protocolbridge.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a communication protocol bridge 28 as part ofsub-network 18. The communication protocol bridge 28, which functionsgenerally in a manner similar to that of communication protocol bridge20, is here integrated into a device as indicated generally at referencenumeral 30. The communication protocol bridge 28 serves to exchange dataproduced within an internal network 32 of the device 30 and the network12. Here again, local I/O 34 may be provided as part of the device. Manysuch devices may be envisaged for performing various functions. Forexample, a sub-network 18 may form a component such as a distributedmotor controller, across-the-line starter, distributed reversingstarter, distributed soft starter, distributed inverter drive-basedstarter, a vector drive-based starter, or any other suitable device. Thecommunication protocol bridge in such applications permits thecommunications within the device, then, to be exchanged in the oneprotocol virtually independent of the network 12. Data needed foroperation of the device, or data to be supplied to other devices or, forexample, to a sub-network 16 or remote control/monitoring circuitry 14may be provided in the protocol network 12 by virtue of the operation ofthe communication protocol bridge 28. As with the communication protocolbridge 20, bridge 28 includes programmable logic circuitry that permitsoperations to be performed on the received and transmitted data.

In a presently contemplated embodiment, the communication protocolbridges 20 and 28 of the present technique include embeddedmicro-programmable logic controllers (micro-PLC's) that can operate bothon the local discrete I/O data, as well as data received from one orboth sides of the communication protocol bridge. In general, then, thecommunication protocol bridge serves functions of translating databetween the network protocols, and also performing the programmed logicoperations on any desired data, which may be referred to as “bound”.This operation of the communication protocol bridge will be described ingreater detail below.

Referring to FIG. 2, logical and functional components of thecommunication protocol bridges 20 and 28 are illustrated. At afunctional level, the communication protocol bridges include a memorymodule 38 which stores certain data received and transmitted in eitherof the interfaced protocols. A logic module 40 is provided which mayexecute any one of a range of programmable operations. The operationsmay be programmed, for example, locally at the communication protocolbridge or via a programming tool 36 (see FIG. 1) as illustrated inconnection with the network 12 discussed above. An interface module 42may be provided for producing local outputs. In general, the memorymodule 38 may receive data from either the network 12 discussed above orfrom a sub-network. The received data, indicated generally at referencenumeral 44 in FIG. 2, may be analyzed and certain portions of the datastored within the memory module as discussed below. The memory modulemay also receive data from the local I/O 26, 34 which may populatecertain portions of the memory. Finally, the memory module 38 mayreceive data from the logic module 40 following certain logicaloperations performed on data from the memory module. Both the memorymodule 38 and the logic module 40 may produce output data as indicatedat reference numeral 46. The output data 46 may be supplied to either ofthe networks to which the communication protocol bridge is linked and ineither one of the network protocols interfaced. Finally, outputs 48 areillustrated, which may be local outputs such as control outputs (e.g.relay or switch controls), lights and alarms, such as LED illuminationindicators, and so forth.

FIG. 3 illustrates certain of the components of the communicationprotocol bridges 20, 28 discussed above, in some greater detail. Asnoted above, each of the bridges is designed to be connected to anetwork 12 and to receive input data 44 from the network. It should benoted, however, that the received data 44 may be, more generally, fromeither of the networks or devices to which the bridge is connected. Thatis, the orientation and data flow illustrated in FIG. 3 may be reversed,such that the received data 44 is received from the device or processand output to the network 12. The data exchange provided between theprotocols by the bridge is completely by-directional. Moreover, thelogical operation performed on the data may be performed independentlyof whether the data is received from one network or the other, or fromlocal I/O. The received data 44 may be analyzed as including implicitmessage data 50, with a transport layer attached thereto, such as in theform of a header 52 and trailer 54 in the illustrated embodiment. Thecommunication protocol bridge functions to extract or strip thetransport layer from the implicit data 50, and to analyze the bits ofthe implicit data in accordance with the known protocols. The data maythen be stored in memory blocks 56 of the memory module 38.

In practice, the particular meaning of the implicit data may beestablished in accordance with the individual protocol. Similarly, thememory blocks 56 within the memory module may also be established by theprotocols, so as to define a bit table or shared memory. In theillustrated embodiment, the implicit message may have a fixed link, suchas 8 bits, although more or fewer bits, and additional bytes may beprovided. Specific portions of the data will thus be identified and canbe used to populate the bit table memory blocks 56. In an industrialcontrol context, for example, the data may represent commands, such as“run forward” for a motor drive. The bit may be associated in anydesired fashion to populate the bit table. In a presently contemplatedembodiment, for example, bits of the table may be designated as inputsfrom a first network, inputs from a second network, outputs to the firstnetwork, outputs to the second network, logic function block values(operations), local hardware input and output designations, networkstatus from either network (e.g., up, down, idle, run, etc.), and soforth. In the present embodiment, the entries in the bit table areeither 1's or 0's, although specific digital values may also beenvisaged.

The data stored within the memory module 38 may be either unbound orbound. Unbound data, indicated generally at reference numeral 58 in FIG.3, is data that may be simply passed through the communication protocolbridge, or may be stored within the memory module 38, but not operatedupon logically. Bound data, as indicated generally at reference numeral60, is recognized as data on which logical operations are to beperformed. The logical operations may be any suitable logical ormathematical relationships established between and among any of the datastored within the memory module 38, as well as data received from localI/O 26, 34, or from any other source. By way of example, where bounddata 60 represents a “run forward” command, logical operations, such asan “on delay” may be performed on the bound data by the logic module 40.Logical operations, indicated generally at reference numeral 62, aretherefore performed on the bound data pursuant to any programmingprovided within the logic module 40 (e.g., the micro-PLC). A wide rangeof such logical functions, including mathematical and Boolean operators,may be provided in the logic module 40.

Based upon operation of the bridge, and upon the logical operationsperformed by the logic module 40, output data 46 is produced andtransmitted to the device or process to which the communication protocolbridge is coupled. Again, it should be noted that the output data may beprovided in an opposite sense to the network 12 based upon the datareceived from the device or process. As illustrated in FIG. 3, then, theoutput data includes implicit data 70 to which a transport layer isappended, such as a header 72 and trailer 74. The implicit data mayinclude pass-through data 64 which is essentially unchanged from itsform as received. Other data, however, such as logical output data 66may be included in the implicit output data and is based upon thelogical operations performed by the logic module 40. Other output datamay include local output data 68 which may be applied to an interfacemodule 42 for producing local outputs 48. As noted above, such localoutputs may include commands, such as for actuators, indicators, such asLED illumination signals, alarms, and so forth. Such outputs may bebased upon different entries in the bit table, or the same entries thatare used for logical operations performed by the logic module 40.

It should be noted that the foregoing arrangement may also be usedsimply to populate or broadcast data from one device to another. FIG. 4illustrates such an implementation. In FIG. 4, a programmable logiccontroller (PLC) 76 is illustrated as coupled to network 12.Sub-networks 16 and 18 are provided with bridges 20 and 28 as describedabove. In this pier-to-pier arrangement, however, the bridges serve theadditional function of simply broadcasting data from their respectiveprocess or device to the other process or device via its associatedbridge. Thus, similar entries in the respective bit tables may bepopulated by broadcasting over the network 12. The data may then be usedin a manner similar to that set forth above, that is, for local I/O, forcommunication or controlling a device or process, or simply for passingthe data through to the device or process in accordance with a differentprotocol.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate exemplary logic for receiving data andperforming bridging operations and logical operations through thecomponents and circuitry discussed above. As illustrated in FIG. 5, thebridge, indicated generally at reference numeral 80, may provide forperforming operations on logic received from a first network, asindicated on the left in FIG. 5 or from a second network as indicated onthe right of FIG. 5. Thus, as illustrated at step 82, data may bereceived by the bridge from a first network or device in a firstprotocol, and a transport layer of the first protocol stripped from theimplicit data at step 84. The data may then be applied to the logiccircuitry of the bridge, and where logic in the bridge is enabled, asindicated at reference numeral 86, certain logical operations may beperformed on bound data. As noted above, other inputs may be provided,such as local I/O, hardware inputs, and so forth as indicated atreference numeral 88 in FIG. 5. If the logic is not enabled, or if thedata is not bound, the data is simply passed through the device in amanner similar to a traditional bridging device. However, if the logicis enabled, and the data is bound, certain logical operations will beperformed. Following such operations, output data is produced inaccordance with the other protocol serviced by the device. That is, asindicated at reference numeral 90, a transport layer in accordance withthe second protocol is inserted, and at step 92 the resulting data istransmitted in the second protocol. Other outputs 94 may also beprovided as indicated above, such as to local I/O.

The bridge also serves to perform exactly analogous functions on datareceived in a second protocol, such as from a device or process. Thus,as illustrated at reference numeral 96 in FIG. 5, data may be receivedin a second protocol, and its transport layer in the second protocolstripped as indicated at reference numeral 98. If logic is enabled, asindicated at reference numeral 100 in FIG. 5, and certain data is boundin the received data, logical operations will be performed by thebridge. Following such logical operations, and based upon other inputs,if any, or if the logic is not enabled or the data is not bound, outputdata is generated by the bridge. As indicated at step 102, then, thetransport layer required by the first protocol is inserted and the datamay be then transmitted in the first protocol as indicated at step 104.

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary logic designated generally by referencenumeral 106 for performing the analysis and logical operations onreceived data as discussed above with reference to FIG. 5. In general,the bridge receives data and determines whether the programmed logic isenabled at step 108. If the logic is not enabled, the data, although,where appropriate, stored within the memory module, is simply passedthrough or bridged through the device as indicated at step 110. If thelogic is enabled, the circuitry determines whether the data is bound atstep 112. If the data is not bound, it is again simply passed throughthe device in a bridging operation. If the data is bound, on the otherhand, the programmed logic is applied to the data as indicated at step114. The result of the logical operations, in combination with datapassed through or bridged through the device, is then used to generatethe output data which may be transmitted as indicated at step 116. Assummarized above with reference to FIG. 5, the data transmission stepswithin block 116 were typically include insertion of the appropriatetransport layer, followed by transmission of the data in accordance withthe desired output network protocol.

While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed herein, many modifications and changes will occur to thoseskilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appendedclaims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fallwithin the true spirit of the invention.

1. A data processing network protocol bridging system comprising: abridging device configured to receive data in two different protocols,to extract message data from the received data, and to compile outputdata in both protocols; a memory circuit configured to store dataextracted by the bridging device, wherein memory blocks of the memorycircuit define a bit table having entries populated with implicitmessage data received in the first protocol and implicit message datareceived in the second protocol, wherein the implicit message data isrepresentative of commands and/or values of operational parameters of anindustrial process; and a programmable logic circuit configured toexecute logical operations on designated data stored in the memorycircuit to produce processed data to be included in the output dataalong with extracted message data on which logical operations are notexecuted.
 2. The bridging system of claim 1, wherein the memory blocksof the memory circuit define the bit table based at least in part on thefirst protocol or the second protocol, or a combination thereof.
 3. Thebridging system of claim 1, wherein specific implicit message datapopulate specific entries of the bit table.
 4. The bridging system ofclaim 1, wherein specific entries of the bit table are designated asinputs from a first network, inputs from a second network, outputs tothe first network, outputs to the second network, local hardware inputdesignations, local hardware output designations, network status fromthe first network, or network status from the second network, or anycombination thereof.
 5. The bridging system of claim 1, wherein at leastone of the entries of the bit table consists of a single bit.
 6. Thebridging system of claim 1, wherein each of the entries of the bit tablecontains a digital value larger than a single bit.
 7. A data processingnetwork protocol bridging system comprising: a bridging deviceconfigured to receive data in a first of two different protocols, toextract first implicit message data from the data received in the firstprotocol by removal of a first protocol transport layer, and to compileoutput data in a second of the two different protocols by insertion of asecond protocol transport layer, the output data including unprocessedfirst implicit message data and processed data; a memory circuitconfigured to store certain of the first implicit message data andcertain second implicit message data of the second protocolrepresentative of commands and/or values of operational parameters ofone or more industrial processes in associated entries of a bit table ofthe memory circuit; and a programmable logic circuit configured toexecute logical operations on designated implicit message data stored inthe memory circuit to produce the processed data.
 8. The bridging systemof claim 7, wherein the bit table is defined based at least in part onthe first protocol or the second protocol, or a combination thereof. 9.The bridging system of claim 7, wherein certain entries of the bit tableare associated with categories of implicit message data, wherein thecategories comprise inputs from a first network, inputs from a secondnetwork, outputs to the first network, outputs to the second network,local hardware input designations, local hardware output designations,network status from the first network, or network status from the secondnetwork, or any combination thereof.
 10. The bridging system of claim 7,wherein at least one of the entries of the bit table is designated tostore implicit message data representing a “run forward” command for amotor drive.
 11. The bridging system of claim 7, wherein the bridgingsystem is configured to pass the unprocessed implicit message data to aninterface module of a local output device substantially unchanged viathe bit table of the memory circuit.
 12. A method for processing andbridging network data comprising: receiving network data in a firstprotocol and a second protocol; extracting first implicit message datafrom the received data of the first protocol and second implicit messagedata from the received data of the second protocol; identifying firstdata and second data of the first implicit message data, wherein atleast the second data of the first implicit message data isrepresentative of commands and/or values of operational parameters ofone or more industrial processes; passing the first data of the firstimplicit message data substantially unchanged; storing the second dataof the first implicit message data in one or more entries of a bit tableof a memory circuit associated with the second data of the firstimplicit message data, wherein the bit table of the memory circuitcomprises one or more other entries comprising at least a portion of thesecond implicit message data from the received data of the secondprotocol; processing designated implicit message data stored in thememory circuit to produce processed second data; and compiling outputdata in the second protocol including the substantially unchanged firstdata and the processed second data.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe first data and the second data of the first implicit message dataare identified as having a particular meaning established in accordancewith the first protocol or the second protocol.
 14. The method of claim12, wherein the second data of the first implicit message data is storedin the one or more entries of the bit table of the memory circuit thatare associated with a particular meaning identified as associated withthe second data of the first implicit message data.
 15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the second data of the first implicit message data isstored in the one or more entries of the bit table, wherein at least oneof the one or more entries of the bit table consists of a single bit.16. The method of claim 12, wherein the second data of the firstimplicit message data is stored in one of the one or more entries of thebit table of the memory circuit that is designated to store implicitmessage data representing industrial control commands.
 17. The method ofclaim 12, comprising receiving local input signals and storing the localinput signals in one or more entries of the bit table of the memorycircuit designated as local hardware inputs.
 18. The method of claim 12,comprising generating local output signals by transmitting the seconddata of the implicit message data from the one or more entries of thebit table of the memory circuit to an interface module of a local outputdevice.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein the second data of the firstimplicit message data is stored in the one or more entries of the bittable of the memory circuit based on whether the second data isidentified as deriving from a first network, deriving from a secondnetwork, designated to be provided to the first network, designated tobe provided to the second network, deriving from a local hardware input,designated to be provided to a local hardware output, representingnetwork status from the first network, or representing network statusfrom the second network, or any combination thereof.
 20. A method forprocessing and bridging network data comprising: receiving network datain a first protocol and a second protocol; extracting first implicitmessage data from the received data of the first protocol and secondimplicit message data from the received data of the second protocol;determining whether any portion of the first implicit message data isbound, wherein the bound portion of the first implicit message data isrepresentative of one or more commands and/or values of operationalparameters of one or more industrial processes; if any portion of thefirst implicit message data is bound, storing the bound portion of thefirst implicit message data in a bit table of a memory circuit, whereinthe bit table of the memory circuit comprises one or more other entriescomprising at least a portion of the second implicit message data fromthe received data of the second protocol, before processing designatedimplicit message data stored in the memory circuit to to generate aportion of output data; if any portion of the message data is not bound,bridging that portion of the implicit message data substantiallyunchanged to generate a second portion of the output data; and compilingthe output data in the second protocol.
 21. The method of claim 20,comprising determining whether logical operations are enabled and iflogical operations are not enabled, bridging all implicit message datasubstantially unchanged if logical operations are not enabled.
 22. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the processing operations performed on thebound portion of the first implicit message data are selected based on alocation within the bit table in which the bound portion of the firstimplicit message data is stored.
 23. The method of claim 22, whereincertain locations within the bit table are designated for certainprocessing operations.
 24. The method of claim 20, comprisingidentifying a particular meaning of the bound portion of the firstimplicit message data established in accordance with the first protocolor the second protocol.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the firstimplicit message data data is stored in one or more locations of the bittable of the memory circuit based on the particular meaning.
 26. Themethod of claim 20, comprising receiving local input signals and storingthe local input signals in one or more locations of the bit table of thememory circuit designated as local hardware inputs.
 27. The method ofclaim 20, comprising generating local output signals by transmitting thebound portion of the first implicit message data from the bit table toan interface module of a local output device.
 28. The method of claim20, wherein the bound portion of the first implicit message data isstored in one or more locations of the bit table of the memory circuitbased on whether the bound portion of the implicit message data derivesfrom a first network, derives from a second network, is designated to beprovided to the first network, is designated to be provided to thesecond network, derives from a local hardware input, is designated to beprovided to a local hardware output, represents network status from thefirst network, or represents network status from the second network, orany combination thereof.
 29. The method of claim 20, wherein the boundportion of the first implicit message data is stored in a location ofthe bit table of the memory circuit that is designated to store implicitmessage data representing an industrial control command.
 30. The methodof claim 29, wherein the industrial control command is a “run forward”command for a motor drive.
 31. A system for processing and bridgingnetwork data comprising: means for receiving network data in a firstprotocol and a second protocol; means for extracting first implicitmessage data from the received data of the first protocol and secondimplicit message data from the received data of the second protocol;means for storing first data or second data of the first implicitmessage data based on a particular meaning associated with the firstdata or the second data, wherein the particular meaning associated withthe first data or the second data is representative of one or morecommands and/or values of operational parameters of one or moreindustrial processes, and wherein the means for storing first data orsecond data of the first implicit message data comprise means forstoring at least a portion of the second implicit message data; meansfor passing the first data substantially unchanged; means for processingthe second data; and means for compiling output data in the secondprotocol including the substantially unchanged first data and theprocessed second data.
 32. A system for processing and bridging networkdata comprising: means for receiving network data in a first protocoland a second protocol; means for extracting first implicit message datafrom the received data of the first protocol and second implicit messagedata from the second protocol; means for determining whether any portionof the first implicit message data is bound, wherein the bound portionof the first implicit message data is representative of one or morecommands and/or values of operational parameters of one or moreindustrial processes; means for, if any portion of the first implicitmessage data is bound, storing the bound portion of the first implicitmessage data and at least a portion of the second implicit message dataand processing the bound portion of the implicit message data togenerate a portion of output data; means for, if any portion of thefirst implicit message data is not bound, bridging that portion of thefirst implicit message data substantially unchanged to generate a secondportion of the output data; and means for compiling the output data inthe second protocol.